HBS Managing the Future of Work

Financial Services giant Prudential is pursuing a hybrid workforce strategy. It’s all-in on automation for underwriting and other data-intensive, but routine, tasks. And it looks to the labor market for certain in-demand skills. But, according to vice chairman Robert Falzon, the New Jersey-based multinational is committed to cultivating the capabilities of its 50,000 employees. Many of its workers are also its financial services customers. This, along with low unemployment in the industry, helps explain why Prudential is working to develop its internal market for skills, identifying both supply (workers) and demand (jobs) in terms of competencies, expertise, and attributes, rather than experience and general categories. Falzon explains how this symbiotic approach leads the company to pursue efficiencies as it also looks to foster the careers of its home-grown talent.

The Washington Technology Industry Association’s Apprenti apprenticeship program is a creature of the Seattle tech industry. But since its 2015 founding, it has become a national player in the workforce development market. As a partner in the federal government’s push to extend apprenticeships beyond construction and the trades, Apprenti is addressing the skills gap while diversifying the tech workforce. Executive Director Jennifer Carlson discusses how Apprenti connects employers with promising candidates, many of whom lack 4-year degrees, and helps them navigate the complexities of federal and state systems.  

Computer-aided design pioneer, Autodesk, is tightening the integration of design and production in everything from architecture to movies. This simple concept has far-reaching implications for the nature of work. Jobs, supply chains, and industries are set to become more transparent, automated, and interconnected. Construction is on the verge of becoming more like manufacturing, thanks to machine learning and cloud-based automation and control. Manufacturing is becoming more automated and customized. Training will become a continuous function of many jobs. CEO Andrew Anagnost is collaborating with Autodesk customers and workers to speed the process and seeking ways to mitigate the disruptive effects. He joins us to discuss these changes and how to address the skills gap in tech, construction and manufacturing.

Werk Enterprises uses surveys and data analytics to help organize work through a set of predefined, flexible arrangements, rather than the traditional 9-to-5 in the office. This HR version of mass customization can recalibrate the relationship between employers and employees to better match the needs of both. HBS alumna Anna Auerbach and her cofounder, Annie Dean, were initially motivated by the challenges facing professional women, whose careers have often suffered due to the conflicting demands of work and life. Werk touts hard numbers – in employee retention, net promoter scores, and productivity --  to make the business case for carefully tailored flexibility across the board, in contrast to the chaotic approach blamed for recent high profile pullbacks.

International trade expert and former presidential advisor, Richard Baldwin, discusses his latest book, The Globotics Upheaval: Globalization, Robotics, and the Future of Work. He argues that the speed and sweep of economic and social changes resulting from global connectivity and AI could provoke widespread dissatisfaction. These factors are already influencing white-collar, middle-class employment. Work that can be automated or done remotely offers employers huge potential savings. Jobs that require onsite collaboration and interpersonal skills look less vulnerable.

The Aspen Institute has spent the past decade deconstructing how top US post-secondary schools bolster their diverse students’ work and life prospects. The nonprofit recently released its Workforce Playbook, which distills the best practices of leading community colleges and lays out the challenges they face. This work-based learning curriculum writ large informs college administrators, business leaders, and policy makers as they look for innovative ways to cultivate community talent pipelines.

Oisin Hanrahan, co-founder and CEO of home services gig platform Handy, has succeeded by finding order and opportunity in chaos. The former HBS student has navigated messy transitions, cutthroat competition, and a challenging venture funding environment. He is also on the front lines of the battle over worker classification. Now part of gig services conglomerate ANGI Homeservices, Handy has branched out from cleaning into skilled trades, contracting, and retail partnerships

What do sales clerks have in common with NFL quarterbacks? Apart from a competitive nature, both can benefit from VR training. Former Stanford football player Derek Belch drew on his athletic background and a Master’s in VR to deliver the virtual goods via STRIVR, the startup he co-founded with Stanford professor Jeremy Bailenson. STRIVR started out supplying VR to football teams and has since made a concerted push into the enterprise. The technology has the potential to improve hard and soft skills.

Life events, personal interests, and a host of other factors lead people to step away from work. The key is how to handle reentry. Carol Fishman Cohen, HBS ‘85, draws on her own experience to consult and write about what it means to come back from a career break in today’s economy. She sheds light on who the would-be returners are, what they bring to the workplace, the barriers they face, and how employers can include them in their talent pipelines.

Robots aren’t necessarily primed to take over, but advances in machine learning are readying the mechanical components of the workforce for more complex and autonomous tasks. Startup Osaro specializes in deep reinforcement learning systems, artificial intelligence for industrial robots. CEO Derik Pridmore talks about the adaptive decision-making capabilities working their way into warehouses and factories, and the prospect of machines with a wider, more human range of cognitive capabilities.